The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 16
Chapter XVI · Vol. III, pp. 1250–1251
1 The prophet, under the types of abstaining from marriage, and from houses of mourning and feasting, foreshoweth the utter ruin of the Jews, 10 because they were even worse than their fathers. 14 Their return from captivity shall be more memorable than their deliverance out of Egypt. 16 God will doubly recompense their idolatry.
1 The worda of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
a ch.1.4,11; 2.1; 7.1; 11.1; 13.3,8; 14.1; 15.1; 18.1, &c.
2 Thoub shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
b Ge.19.14. Ho.9.13,14. Mat.24.19. Lu.23.29. 1 Co.7.26.
3 For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
4 Theyc shall die of grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
5 For thus saith the LORD, dEnter not into the house of mourning,1 neither go to lament nor bemoan them: efor I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even loving-kindness and mercies.
d Eze.24.16-23. Ps.78.64. ch.47.3; ver.6,7.
1 Or, mourning-feast.
e De.32.22; 31.17. Ps.74.1; 79.5. Ho.1.6. Is.27.11. ch.15.1-4. Eze.5.13,15; 7.4,8,9.
6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor gcut themselves, nor make themselves bald2 for them.
g Le.19.28. De.14.1. Is.22.12. ch.41.5; 47.5; ver.4. Ps.78.64.
2 The practice of cutting off the hair in mourning is as ancient as the days of Job, Job 1.20. Some special form of the practice was, however, forbidden by the divine law, De.14.1, and to the priests it was altogether interdicted, Le.21.5. It prevailed among the Greeks (see Harwood's Antiquities, p.363), and is still found in Abyssinia.—C.
7 Neither shall men tear3 themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the 4dead; neither shall men give them the hcup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
8 Thoui shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.5
i Ps.26.4. 1 Co.5.11. Is.22.12-14. Ec.7.2-4. Pr.21.20. Ep.5.7,11. Ja.5.5. 2 Pe.2.13. Jude 12.
5 This is supposed to refer to the funeral feast given after 'the three days of weeping.' Such a custom seems to have prevailed among all nations. In England, during the plague, 1569, one of the precautions against the spread of the disease was the prohibition of funeral dinners. (Maitland's London, vol. i. p.260.) The allusion here, however, seems to be, not to a funeral, but to a marriage feast. See ver.9.—C.
9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, jI will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt show this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, kWherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our 6God?
k ch.5.19; 13.22; 22.8,9. De.29.24,25. 1 Ki.9.8. La.4.12.
6 This self-defence, founded upon their total ignorance or disregard of the law of God, is often looked upon by Christians with surprise. Alas! how many examples of equal ignorance, disregard, and justification, or, at least, palliation of sin, may Christians readily discover among themselves! The Sabbath is violated upon human authority, in opposition to divine law; and what is the Christian answer? the Jewish to a tittle: 'What is our iniquity? what our sin against the Lord our God?'—Note, Sin, and the defence of sin, are the same in all ages, and among all people.—C.
11 Then shalt thou say unto them, lBecause your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law:
l De.29.25,26. 1 Ki.9.9. ch.2.8-13,20; 5.19,25; 13.22; 22.9. Ju.2.11-20. 1 Ki.11.1-6. 2 Ki.8.18,27; 16.3,4; 17.19; 21.2-7. Ps.cvi. Eze.xvi.
12 And ye have done nworse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination7 of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
13 Thereforeo will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favour.
o De.4.26-28; 28.63-65. ch.14.18; 15.4,14; 17.4.
14 Therefore,8 behold, pthe days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15 But, The LORD liveth qthat brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: rand I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
q De.30.3-5; 32.43. Ps.102.13,14. Is.14.1,2; 11.11; 27.12,13; 48.20; 43.6,14-16; 49.12-20; 59.20; 62.10,11. ch.23.8; 30.8-10; 31.7-14; 29.10,11; 32.37-44; 33.6-13; 3.18; 50.4,8,19,34; 51.5,45,50. Ro.11.25,26.
r ch.24.6; 30.3.
16 Behold, sI will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
s Ge.10.9. Am.4.2. Hab.1.14,15. ch.6.3; 4.13; 25.9. Lu.17.34-37.
17 For mine teyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face, uneither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
18 And first9 I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double;1 because vthey have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the xcarcases of their detestable and abominable things.
9 Before I show thee favour, Mi.4.10. Is.27.9,10. ch.17.18. Is.40.2; 61.7. Re.18.6.
1 Not double the punishment their sin deserved, for that were impossible; but double in severity and continuance beyond their former sentences.—C.
v Is.24.5. Je.3.1,2. Is.lix. Eze.xvi. xx. xxii. xxiii. Mi.7.1-6. Zep.3.1-5.
x Le.26.30. Is.2.8; 57.5; 65.3-7; 66.17. Eze.43.7,9. ch.2.12,13,20,28.
19 O LORD, ymy strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, zthe Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, aSurely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
21 Therefore, behold, cI will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know2 mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is the 3LORD.4
c Ps.9.16; 58.11; 83.18. Is.42.8; 52.10. ch.23.10; 33.2. Eze.6.7; 12.20; 24.24,27. Am.5.8.
2 Cause them to know. That is, the Gentiles.—C.
3 Or, Jehovah.
4 The wonderful and cheering prophecy of this chapter reaches away outward into a still distant future. An ingathering of the remnant of Israel from among the Gentile nations, synchronous with the conversion of the Gentiles themselves, is predicted. This has not yet taken place. No sound exegesis can make it refer to the return from Babylonish captivity. From this and other passages we are justified in expecting that as, in accordance with prophecy, the Jews have been scattered among all nations, so they shall be gathered in again to the land of their fathers.—P.
Notes
Ver. 6. Nor cut themselves. The custom of cutting the flesh in mourning was practised in several ancient nations. Among the Athenians it prevailed, and was forbidden by Solon. The Spartans were accustomed, in mourning for their great men, to tear their flesh (Harwood's Grecian Antiquities, p. 364). A similar practice prevailed amongst the ancient Huns, and was found amongst the modern South Sea Islanders. Though prohibited by Mahomet, it still maintains its ground in Moslem countries. In the annual mourning in Persia for Hassein the son of the Caliph Ali, many run about uttering doleful cries, and cutting themselves with knives and lancets till completely covered with blood. This barbarous practice was forbidden by the divine law, Le. 19. 28; notwithstanding which it still appears to have prevailed among the disobedient Hebrews. C. Ver. 7. Cup of consolation. This was a refreshment sent to mourners by their friends. In ancient times the Jews were accustomed to send bread, fruits, and wine; in modern times they send eggs, salt, and a small loaf (Allen's Modern Judaism, p. 439), which is sometimes called 'the bread of bitterness,' and seems to be alluded to in 2 Sa. 3. 35; Eze. 34. 16, 17; Ho. 9. 4. C.
Reflections.—In evil days, a concern for our church and nation ought to swallow up our care for natural relations; for then our families, and other created comforts, become occasional additions to our trouble. Carnal feasting and mirth are very unseasonable when God's destructive judgments are hanging over and ravaging around us. God is exact in marking men's iniquities, and unavoidable is his punishment of them; but it is very hard to convince obdurate sinners of their guilt, or of the equity of God's judgments. And yet how infinite is his mercy in connecting the most awful judgments with the most gracious deliverances, and in making his strokes of wrath to prepare men for the reception of his favours! And marvellous are all his ways: he makes both the miseries and the deliverances of the Jewish nation to promote the gathering of the Gentiles to Christ.